C1. Graduate Council Statement: “Diversity in Graduate Student Recruitment and Selection” — Reissued February 1998
Updated: August 31st, 2011
The University has moved into the post-affirmative action era as defined by Proposition 209. There is no doubt that the recruitment, selection, and support of graduate students has been and will continue to be affected by these new realities. However, the policies of the Graduate Council relating to student recruitment and selection, as formulated in 1985 and reaffirmed most recently in January 1996, remain unaltered, as do the assumptions upon which they are based. In particular, we believe that the educational experience is enhanced by a graduate student body that is heterogeneous with respect to economic circumstances, gender, and ethnicity, as three of many markers of diversity. A diverse student body also serves California’s future needs for a diverse body of academics and practitioners. To this end we reaffirm the following policies governing admission to graduate study at Berkeley.
- The Graduate Council encourages graduate programs on the Berkeley campus to maintain and enhance an active outreach program to recruit talented, qualified applicants with diverse characteristics from diverse backgrounds.
- The Graduate Council supports the use of multi-year fellowships and other sources of student support (GSIships and GSRships) to maintain and increase the diversity of the student body.
- The Graduate Council urges graduate program selection committees to weigh carefully a wide variety of quantitative and qualitative criteria in their selection of graduate students.
- Departments with less experience and success in recruiting and attracting a diversity of students should draw on the experience of other departments that have been successful in this area. A list of these departments should be obtained from the Dean of the Graduate Division or from the Chair of the Graduate Council.
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